ClueBy
TodayArchiveWord list

Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
YesNo
↻ New worksheet

Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. season — in sport
  3. shower — to wash
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. pit — in a race
  6. bass — the fish
  7. season — of the year
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. game — a match
  10. present — a gift
  11. shower — rain
  12. drill — the tool
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. drill — army training
  15. court — for sport
  16. pit — a hole
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. present — the time now
  19. drill — a practice
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. court — of law
  22. court — of a king
  23. present — there
  24. game — wild animals

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com